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Neighbors

Sarasota
Wed Jul 15, 2009
5 years ago

Man on the street: Larger than life

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by:
Maggie Pahos
Observer Intern

Question: Should the "Unconditional Surrender" statue remain where it is on the bayfront or should it be moved to a less public space?
Robert and Suzanne Delaney (Chicago, Ill.)
Robert Delaney: “It should stay. Life imitates art. This is based off of a picture of life at the time. This is art. You go to Florence and they have a replica of the David and people consider that art even thought it’s a copy.”
Suzanne Delaney: “We did our research on this. We asked the woman at our hotel about it after we saw it, and she printed out a picture of it for us and we came back. She actually told us that her friend is a nurse and her future husband is a sailor and this statue and the photograph that it is based off of is going to be the theme of their wedding. They bought a replica of this statue for themselves. I am a nurse, so this statue holds a lot of personal meaning for me.”

Andrew and Sarah McGrath (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Sarah McGrath: “It should stay. I’m a nurse and he’s a navy guy. We have a huge poster of this photograph at our home when you walk in.”

Slavka and Mike Berilazic (Montenegro and Michigan)
“It should stay here. Lots of people stop and it is nice, romantic.”

Margaret Rios and Gladys Perez (San Angelo, Texas, and Rochester, N.Y.)
“I think it’s a great thing. We lived in Manhattan at the time that it was taken. We used to do that — kiss random people on the street.”
Jeffery Prince (Atlanta)
"I think it’s pretty cool. I saw it last night when I was driving and came back to see it. I think it’s art. It’s huge, it’s art.”

Diane Blanc, with grandsons Clay and Jake Rice (Longboat Key)
Diane Blanc: “This statue is a landmark, it’s history. You see five, 10, 15, 20 tourists now when you come by. Before, nobody stopped. We walked over here today because my grandsons had seen it before and they couldn’t wait to see it again.”
Patti Keehn, with her daughter, Abigail (New York City)
“I think its’ great. It takes you back to the old art style of the ’50s.”